Birthday Brews!

Definitely a Cinci staple...

Nice belgian from Weyerbacher. It's creeping up there as a favorite brewery!

01/26/10 - Well yesterday was my 33rd birthday. We went to Cincinnati and ate at Rock Bottom Brewery. Had some red ale and their Double IPA. Great stuff! Here are some choice brews we picked up at Jungle Jim's near Cinci... You'll have to open the pic to take a look. A lot of variety!

Racking the Stout...01/18/10

Cleaned/sanitized racking EQ. Airlock, siphon, hosing, thief...

Here is the stout after 115 hours in the primary. Everything went as planned, and I decided to rack into secondary so I could see it in the carboy for the next weeks...

Regular siphoning, pretty straight forward.

Almost done...

Airlock in place and we've got our stout in the secondary glass carboy. This will help with pure flavors and a better tasting beer. I'm quite glad I took this step with the IPA. There would be an unfavorable aftertaste (due to spent hop residuals resting in the beer) had I not done so.

Cheers!

A word on glassware...

Now, I'm no snob... I love all beer. But these days, I try to put the good stuff into my belly out of respect for myself and for the brew.

I like to imbibe using the proper vessel whenever I can. Particularly when I'm in my home! Here are a few choice pieces of glassware:

From left to right:

Big ass mug, for Marzen/Oktoberfest styles.
Flared pint glass I use for stouts.
Ale glass (Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale commemorative).
Standard pint glass (Sierra Nevada).
Strong ale glass (Ommegang commemorative) not sure what else to call it... Small mouth snifter?
Sam Adams commemorative lager glass (which is great for any beer).
Standard snifter for any hefty beer with a big nose.
Standard pilsner glass.

I don't get these out every night or anything, but I figured I share. I like to make an event out of every good beer I drink!

Cheers!

Life and Limb and 120 Minute IPA

01/14/10 I finally found Life and Limb at a wonderful place called "From the Vine" in Lewis Center, OH. Someone reserved it a few months ago, but never picked it up. Blasphemy!

And Hallelujah! Dogfish Head and Sierra Nevada are quite possibly my two favorite breweries in the U.S. So glad I was able to snag what could very well have been the last bottle for sale in Cbus!

Some other choice brews: Overbooked IPA (my homebrew), Bell's Best Brown Ale, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (elusive little bugger!), Life and Limb by DFH and Sierra Nevada, White Storm Cream Ale by Mad Brewer (Cleveland based, came highly recommended by Jaimie at From the Vine) and Saranac Black Lager.

Cheers!

Imperial Stout boil 01/13

Scroll down to the bottom and make your way up to learn about the newest batch!

And here it is down in the basement, in the fermenter. I'm typing this 24 hours after boil and we've got crazy bubbles going on in the fermenter. It's the perfect temp down here at 69 degrees. Not too cool, not too hot.

The "head" will do some cool things when chilling. Chemistry at work!

Here is the chill station, just a few feet away. Gotta get it cooled down as quickly as possible to combat exposure.

Enjoying the process! IPA, meet your cousin Imperial Stout.

The boil takes about an hour, so I had some time to take a couple shots... Here is my IPA in all it's glory being imbibed while we're brewing the next batch.

It's a rule, you have to drink a homebrew when brewing the next batch.

Another view of the "halved" boil.

Here is a very interesting part of the boil. The froth on top will pick a "side" of your pot to rest. This works in your favor, as the portion that's actually bubbling needs an open top for steam to escape. Not paying attention to the froth forming will absolutely lead to a boil over. moving the froth around, lowering heat and removing from heat will combat boil over.

The hop bag (nugget hops) has been added in and we're raising back up to boil.

Raised temp to a boil, removed from heat and added LME... Here' s a tip for anyone taking notes... Start with a very slow increase on stovetop heat when following instructions. Too fast and you'll burn your sugars and/or LME.

After steeping for about 30 mins...

Here is the view of the LME in the bucket with the label for anyone's reference that might need it.

Watching the black grain's "essence" integrate into the water was cool to watch. Trippy movement in there. Looked like cream/coffee...

Steeping the specialty grains as normal.

Here, I was transferring 5 gallons sanitized water from bucket to carboy so I could mark the 5 gallon level on the glass. Turns out I have a carboy best suited for secondary fermentation. For the time being, I'm gonna use the Northern Brewer bucket as my primary.

Imperial Stout! Listermann's. They're a brewing supply company down in Cincinnati, Dana Avenue exit. Coincidentally, just 1 exit away from my bro-in-law's place. Very friendly, very cool! This is a place that you can buy kits directly from where they're made. The joint that's here in Columbus order's theirs from a place just like this. Listermann's has more of an authentic, personal feel to it.

The LME (Liquid Malt Extract) came out of a big ass tapped vat. Very surprising to see! I'd recommend a trip down there for any homebrewer.

Will certainly come away with a T-Shirt next time.

STOUTED!

Our next batch is underway! Last night 01/13 I steeped my grains, boiled the wort and racked into the primary fermenter. We're going for an Imperial Stout. Plenty of fermentable sugars in this one, should be pretty hefty! Pics to follow.

Reviews!

I've given away about a dozen brews and have gotten a few reviews. Apparently it's not just me who finds this to be a lovely nip! As the past few weeks have gone by, it's mellowed out quite a bit and is even better.

I'm anxious to get started on the next adventure, but I'm certainly savoring the spoils of this first attempt.

Brewing is proving to be a relaxing, gratifying and super fun hobby. I'm a very happy IPA drinking man.

Cheers!

Tried and true, labeled and distributed!

Here is the finished product. A little cloudy, but a nice beautiful head on her! Good balance flavors and aromas. Maybe a little maple scent, maybe not. Could be my imagination. This'll just get better over the next weeks and months. Mellowing out.

Decided to call it Overbooked IPA. Simple labels printed off the computer, no big woop. I'm very proud of this first batch. Have had a few now and it' some potent stuff to boot.

I gave a few to some beer lovers at work to get some feedback. Hoping it hits home.

Woohoo!!!!!